title: Degree of specialisation of the surgeon influences lymph node yield after right-sided hemicolectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the degree to which specialisation or case-load of the surgeon is associated with the number of lymph nodes isolated from pathology specimens after right-sided hemicolectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 6 hospitals with well-defined catchment areas included in the Uppsala/Örebro Regional Oncology Centre Colon Cancer Register 1997-2006 were used to assess 821 patients undergoing right-sided hemicolectomy for stages I-III colon cancer. Factors influencing the lymph node yield were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A surgeon with colorectal accreditation and a university pathology department were both associated with a significantly higher proportion of patients having 12 or more lymph nodes isolated from surgical specimens after right-sided hemicolectomy in both unadjusted and multivariate analyses. Emergency surgery did not affect the lymph node yield.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The degree of specialisation of the surgeon influences the number of lymph nodes isolated from specimens obtained during routine right-sided colon cancer surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brännström
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jestin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Matthiessen
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gunnarsson
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003082:Colectomy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013548:Sweden; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data